The National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) and the IMANI Centre for Policy and Education have commenced a strategic dialogue on Ghana’s development future as the country approaches its 70th Independence Anniversary. The engagement, held in Accra on 6 August 2026, focused on policy continuity, implementation, accountability, and the proposed Consolidated National Development Plan (CNDP).

Opening the meeting, the Chairman of NDPC, Dr. Nii Moi Thompson, stated that development should not be assumed to occur automatically with the passage of time. “There is a tendency among us to assume that the mere passage of time will automatically lead to development,” he said, adding that “development is therefore not automatic; it requires deliberate and sustained effort.”

Dr. Thompson presented evidence on industrialisation, electricity consumption, manufacturing, and private sector credit, arguing that Ghana’s limited industrial base remains a major constraint to job creation. “Ghana’s central challenge is not the absence of plans, but the absence of sustained structural transformation capable of generating productivity, jobs, income growth, and broad-based national prosperity,” he stated.

The Director-General of NDPC, Dr. Audrey Smock Amoah, emphasised the importance of participatory planning and citizen ownership. She observed that many citizens perceive development plans as external documents and called for stronger engagement between local representatives and communities to enhance accountability and ownership of development outcomes.

Responding on behalf of IMANI, the Founder and President, Mr. Franklin Cudjoe, noted that many past policies had been implemented in a fragmented manner without a coherent long-term framework linking investments to measurable development outcomes. “Development planning should begin with a clear national vision, supported by measurable targets such as GDP growth, productivity, employment, human development, and structural transformation,” he said. He also called for education and training programmes to be aligned with the needs of a modern economy.

The Vice President of IMANI, Mr. Kofi Bentil, focused on implementation and enforcement, stressing that planning without effective enforcement mechanisms would not deliver the desired results. “If a plan cannot be enforced, then the country must first address the institutional mechanisms required for enforcement before investing further effort in planning,” he said, adding that development plans should be flexible enough to respond to technological and political changes.

In his closing remarks, Dr. Thompson said the Commission was considering reforms to strengthen parliamentary oversight, align medium-term plans with electoral cycles, and deepen citizen participation in monitoring development outcomes. He expressed optimism that a shared national framework could help reduce policy discontinuity and improve Ghana’s long-term development performance.